Toilet flushing attachment

ABSTRACT

A CRANK OSCILLATABLE BY PRESSURE REARWARDLY AGAINST THE TOILET SEAT LID TURNS A CROSS-SHAFT SUPPORTEDLY HORIZONTALLY ON THE FRONT OF THE FLUSHING TANK TO OPERATE   ANOTHER CRANK ON THE OTHER END OF THE CROSS-SHAFT. THE LATTER CRANK HAS AN EYE ON ITS OUTER END SLIPPED LOOSELY OVER THE OPERATING HANDLE PIVOTED ON THE FLUSHING TANK, WHEREBY TO FLUSH THE TOILET.

May 25, 1971 E. c. JOHNSON TOILET FLUSHING mmcrmnnw Filed July 28, 1969 INVENTORZ EVAR C. JOHNSON ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,579,664 TOILET FLUSHING ATlACI-HVIENT Evar C. Johnson, 2927 9th St., Rockford, Ill. 61109 Filed July 28, 1969, Ser. No. 845,316 Int. Cl. E03d 5/04 US. Cl. 4-250 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A crank oscillatable by pressure rearwardly against the toilet seat lid turns a cross-shaft supportedly horizontally on the front of the flushing tank to operate another crank on the other end of the cross-shaft. The latter crank has an eye on its outer end slipped loosely over the operating handle pivoted on the flushing tank, whereby to flush the toilet.

This invention relates to a toilet flushing attachment and has for its principal object the provision of a simple and inexpensive device easily applicable to the operating handle on the flushing tank and disposed behind the toilet seat lid for easy operation by one seated on the toilet seat by merely applying pressure with his back against the hinged lid, thereby avoiding the awkwardness of trying to flush the toilet while seated, the flushing handle being usually too high for convenient operation, especially for older people and those who are infirm, as in rest homes and in hospitals, although the device is designed and intended for use in homes generally.

I am aware that a great deal of attention has been given this problem of automatic or semi-automatic flushing of the toilet, but, so far as I am aware, the earlier designs have not been nearly as practical as the present invention and in many cases would require complete redesign of the toilet flushing tank and the mechanism therein, whereas the present device is applicable readily to a large percentage of existing toilets without tools and without requiring any special mechanical skill.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

-FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional toilet bowl and flushing tank, showing the flushing attachment of my invention installed, a portion of the toilet seat lid, which serves to operate said attachment, being broken away to better illustrate the construction;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the attachment on a larger scale, and

FIG. 3 is an end view on line 33 of 'FIG. 2.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in these three views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral designates the attachment generally, shown as applied to the pivoted operating handle 11 on one end of the flushing tank 12, the device being disposed below and extending laterally from the handle 11 to a point behind the hinged lid 13 for the toilet seat 14, where a supporting bracket 15 is provided extending downwardly from the top 16 of the flushing tank so that it can be held in place by the lid 17 as indicated at 18. The bracket 15 for economy is of stamped sheet-metal construction having a forwardly reaching lower end portion 19 terminating in a curled end portion 20 providing a bearing for one end portion of a substantially horizontal cross-shaft formed by a straight stiif wire 21 forming the body of the attachment 10. This wire has crank arms 22 and 23 bent therefrom at opposite ends substantially at right angles to the ends of the wire 21 and to one another, the one end (22) having an eye 24 defined on its outer end by a plurality of close coils of a diameter sufficient to accommodate the flushing handle 11 loosely therein, while ice the other end (23), which is longer, has a rubber or plastic ball 25 mounted on its outer end for non-marring frictional engagement with the back of the toilet seat lid 13. Thus, a small amount of rearward swinging movement of the lid 13 will cause clockwise oscillation of the crank 23 as seen in FIG. 3, and corresponding clockwise oscillation of the crank 22 to depress the handle 11 enough to cause flushing of the toilet.

A generally U-shaped leaf spring 26 has on one arm 27 thereof a bearing 28 for the outer end of the wire 21 near the crank 22, while the other arm 29 has abutment with the front of the tank 12 to assume the load resiliently when the wire 21 is turned in a clockwise direction by means of the arm 23, allowing the bearing 28 to shift a little toward the tank 12 as the crank arm 22 applies the downward pressure on the flushing handle 11, thereby making for smoother and better operation. Of course, if desired, the arm 29 could be extended upwardly, as indicated in dotted lines at 30 in FIG. 2, and be supported by a bent upper end 31 on the upper end of the tank 12 in the same way as bracket 15.

In operation, the rearward push on the toilet seat lid 13 requires no effort on the part of a person sitting on the seat 14. The cross-shaft 21 requires very little turning by oscillation of crank 22 to cause handle 11 to be depressed enough by crank 23 to flush the toilet. The lid 13 is swung forwardly by the device 10 again after each flushing as the operating handle 11 returns to its normal position, so the toilet may be flushed easily a second or third time in the same way if so desired. Also, there is no reason why the handle 11 cannot be pushed down in the conventional way by hand by a person sitting on the toilet seat or standing in front of the toilet bowl 32, as the attachment in no way interferes with such operation. one (or both) of the cranks 22 and 23 is not angled properly for good operation, it is a simple matter to bend the same to a different angle to obtain the right performance.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, this is only for the purpose of illustration, and it is to be understood that various modifications in structure will occur to a person skilled in this art.

I claim:

1. In combination, a substantially horizontal crossshaft supported on the front of a toilet flushing tank with one end disposed behind the toilet seat and the other end disposed adjacent the toilet flushing handle which is pivoted relative to said tank for oscillation, and crank means connected to opposite ends of said cross-shaft, one behind the toilet seat adapted for oscillation by a person seated on the toilet, whereby to turn said shaft, and the other operated by turning of the shaft and arranged to oscillate said toilet flushing handle to flush the toilet.

2. The structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first crank is oscillatable by rearward swinging movement of the toilet seat lid.

3. The structure of claim 1, in the form of an attachment for a toilet flushing tank, including a supporting bracket having a bearing in which said cross-shaft is mounted for rotation, said bracket having means for suspending the same on the front of said flushing tank.

4. The structure of claim 1, in the form of an attachment for a toilet flushing tank including a part carried on the outer end of the first crank for nonmarring engagement with the back of a raised toilet seat lid.

5. The structure of claim 1, in the form of an attachment for a toilet flushing tank, including an eye carried on the outer end of the second crank for telescoping connection with the toilet flushing handle. 

